There are a number of government programs which are allocated according to population and other census statistics. For instance, over $400 billion in Federal money is spent for education, infrastructure, hospitals, emergency services, senior centers, and schools. The population in your area determines how much of that money is spent there. The census statistics are an important tool for local governments and organizations to use in planning for the future. The census also determines the number of seats Texas will have in the U.S. House of Representatives. It is important that Texas be fully represented.

Why wouldn’t you fill out the census?

Safe: There are some who are concerned about the privacy of their information. The census information is available only in statistics after it is compiled for 72 years. Personal information such as your name, age, gender, race, address, and telephone number is not released. Every census worker is sworn to protect your confidentiality under Title 13 of the U.S. Code and can incur severe penalties for breaking that oath. However you can request information about yourself and in some cases, family members from the census bureau from 1940-2000. They will transcribe the information and send it to you for a fee. Information in the 1930 census and prior is available through public records.

Time: Most people receive the short form which only asks 10 questions to identify the people living in a household. A small percentage of households receive the American Community Survey which asks more questions for a more detailed survey of the community. This sampling of the population includes questions about income, health, and military service. If you fail to return your census form, a census taker will likely be calling you or stopping by your home. Their job is to make sure the census is as accurate as possible.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Every year in March we celebrate Women's History Month, but women's accomplishments have not always been talked about in history. Earlier this month I had the opportunity to do research on some women who signed a guest book at the turn of the century. When I started my research, I only recognized the name, Susan B. Anthony. It turns out that the three other names were also well know in the early 1900s as advocates for women's rights and active in the suffrage movement.

Mary Garrett Hay was the vice-president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1918 and was known for introducing the Woman's Club organization to the suffrage issues. Anna H. Shaw was the first woman ordained by the Methodist Protestant Church and became the President of the national association after Carrie Catt. Carrie Lane Chapman Catt was the President of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1900. She was instrumental in the creation of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance and was its first President. One of the more interesting things I learned was that Carrie had a prenuptial aggreement with her last husband, George Catt, that stated she was allowed to have two months in the fall and two months in the spring to continue her suffrage work.

Women have certainly come a long way since then. Let's celebrate Women's History Month for all they did to get us here.

Contains information on 300 of the world’s most influential companies based outside of the United States. One of the most complete sources of in-depth information on large, non-US-based business enterprises. Includes profiles and indexes.
(Call # HG 4009 .H66 2003 c.2) 4/11/03

Provides information for credit risk professionals and provides a standard for comparison financial data. Includes information on a number of business industries.

La Forte, Robert S. and Richard L. Himmel. Down the Corridor of Years: A Centennial History of the University of North Texas in Photographs 1890-1990. Denton, TX: University of North Texas Press, 1989. (Call #LD 5312 L3 1989) 03/08/2010.

A stroll down memory lane for UNT alumni and faculty with a collection of photographs covering buildings, students, faculty, donors, and more.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Tomorrow is Election Day and it is important for us as citizens to exercise our right to vote. However voting without any information about the candidates and the issues is not the best way to do it.

League of Women Voters
The League of Women Voters publishes a voter’s guide before every election about the candidates. They send questions to the candidates and then publish their answers. Their mission statement reads, “The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.”http://www.lwvtexas.org/votersintro.php

FactCheck.org
FactCheck.org is a project from the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. A good resource for checking the accuracy of major politicians and sorting out the statements made about about some issues. An excerpt from their mission statement reads, “We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.”http://www.factcheck.org/

Project Vote Smart: The Voter’s Self Defense System
Project Vote Smart creates a candidates page for many politicians. They strive to answer the questions that a smart voter wants. The questions they strive to answer are listed on their history page at: http://www.votesmart.org/program_history.php If you want to know a candidates voting record, their stance on issues, their background, or public speeches, this is the website to search. It states on their contact page that, “Project Vote Smart (PVS) is a citizen's organization dedicated to serving all Americans with accurate and unbiased information for electoral decision-making. Its policies, procedures and structure are designed to guarantee absolute impartiality and standards of excellence in fulfillment of its mission.” It was disconcerting that a number of elected officials were on the founding board, but there is lots of good information on this website.http://www.votesmart.org

University of North Texas at Dallas Library Blog

Promoting information literacy and conveying information about the library, services, information resources, and the university of special interest to students, staff, and faculty of the University of North Texas at Dallas.